4 NFL FanDuel Studs to Target in Week 4
Spending your available salary in any DFS lineup on a stud can make or break your lineup. These high-salary players will take up the majority of your budget, so it’s critical to carefully consider which ones you’ll want for each slate. Whether it’s trying to capture a safe floor in a cash game or chasing a huge game to help you win a tournament, nailing the expensive players is one of the keys to making winning NFL lineups on FanDuel.
A lot of NFL stars in 2021 have been more hit or miss than we’ve come to expect. Let’s check out the best options in Week 4 studs to spend heavy salary on.
Josh Allen, QB, Buffalo Bills
FanDuel Salary: $8,500
Projected Points: 26.2
The first two games of this season were somewhat concerning for Josh Allen’s fantasy managers.
Both from a fantasy perspective and an accuracy perspective, he didn’t seem like the same quarterback that we saw in 2020. That all changed in Week 3, when he had five touchdowns, including one on the ground. In Week 4, he’ll be expected to pick up right where he left off.
The Buffalo Bills play the Houston Texans in Week 4. The Texans have been better than expected on defense, as many had projected them to be the worst in the league. They still have been below average in schedule-adjusted pass defense, according to numberFire’s metrics. The Bills are the perfect team to exploit this weakness.
Buffalo became known as one of the pass-happiest teams in the NFL last season, and not much has changed this season. They rank second in adjusted pass rate through three games this season. If they are passing at a similar rate in this game, it could mean another huge game for Josh Allen.
The Bills are by far the biggest favorite and highest implied team total on the Week 4 main slate. We know that quarterback fantasy scoring is highly correlated with team total, and that's especially true for a quarterback like Allen who rushes for touchdowns. Allen's fantasy projection is over a point higher than anyone else, making him the top QB option on this slate.
Derrick Henry, RB, Tennessee Titans
FanDuel Salary: $10,200
Projected Points: 20.3
Over the past few seasons, Derrick Henry has been one of the most divisive players in fantasy football.
His detractors will say that he doesn't catch enough passes to be a true top-end fantasy running back. His backers will say it doesn't matter because he gets fed so often on the ground and breaks off long touchdown runs to make up for the lack of work in the passing game. Like a lot of arguments, the solution falls in the middle of the two extremes. However, this season, he could be blending it all together to become a running back that has no question marks hanging over him.
Henry has been doing his thing on the ground, leading the league with 353 rushing yards. He also has 13 more carries than any other player in the league. The encouraging thing has been his increased usage in the passing game.
Henry has caught 12 passes through the first three games, and he now sits just 7 shy of his career-high 19 receptions from last season. The Tennessee Titans were in catch-up mode in their first two games, and that gave Henry those targets, but that didn't happen in previous seasons. It is worth monitoring if new offensive coordinator Todd Downing is committed to getting his best back the ball in the passing game.
The Titans go on the road to face the New York Jets and are favored by 7.5 points. With how bad the Jets offense has performed, the Titans should be able to control the game and allow the big dog eat. With both A.J. Brown and Julio Jones listed as questionable, Tennessee might lean on Henry even more than normal.
Like Allen, Henry is the highest-projected player at his position by over a point. Henry is sometimes tough to justify in cash games, but given the matchup and the newfound passing game role, he definitely makes sense in all formats this week.
Davante Adams, WR, Green Bay Packers
FanDuel Salary: $8,100
Projected Points: 15.9
After a Week 1 debacle, Davante Adams and the Green Bay Packers are back on track.
In Week 1's blowout loss, Adams saw seven targets and had just 8.1 FanDuel points. Those chalking it up to one bad game appear to be correct. Adams has 20 catches in his past two contests and back-to-back games with over 100 yards. His usage continues to be elite, as he's seen a 37.4% target share and a 44% air yards share. In Week 4, he gets a matchup that might initially look tough but can be exploited.
The Packers are at home taking on the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday. It's been well documented that the Steelers have been struggling on offense, but the pass defense hasn't been clicking either. They currently rank 25th in schedule-adjusted pass defense and have allowed big games to Henry Ruggs and Ja'Marr Chase over the past few weeks. Those are two talented young receivers, but they aren't quite in the same class as Adams.
What sets Adams apart from most receivers is his usage in the red zone. He is almost treated as a goal-line back for the Packers. His 40 targets in the red zone since the start of last season are the most in the NFL.
The Packers have a healthy implied team total of 26.25 points. When a player is as involved in the offense as Adams, that team total carries more weight than usual. Adams is certainly one of the best options at wide receiver this week.
Travis Kelce, TE, Kansas City Chiefs
FanDuel Salary: $8,200
Projected Points: 16.8
Is it a Travis Kelce week? Every week should be a Travis Kelce week.
Kelce had a somewhat of a quiet game last week. Of course, a quiet game by his standards would be an elite game for nearly any other tight end. He had seven catches on 11 targets, good for 104 yards. He is, of course, the TE1 in half-PPR scoring to this point of the season and has shown no signs of slowing down.
The Kansas City Chiefs face the Philadelphia Eagles in a game that's tied for the highest total on the main slate. It's hard for the Chiefs offense to be in a bad spot, but this one could be particularly good, especially for Kelce. The Eagles are coming home after a Monday Night loss on the road. In that game, tight end Dalton Schultz burned the Eagles' defense for 80 yards and 2 touchdowns. Schultz certainly isn't the player that Kelce is, and isn't as involved in the offense as Kelce is either.
The Chiefs' 30.75 implied team total is the second-highest of the week. Kelce ranks seventh among all players in receiving yards, comparing better to wide receivers than other tight ends. As usual, he's lapping the field in tight end projections --nearly four points ahead of anyone else at the position. As always, if the salary is possible to achieve, Kelce is a beacon of hope in a landfill of chaos at tight end.
Nicholas Vazquez is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Nicholas Vazquez also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username hbyanksman. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his/her personal views, he/she may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his/her personal account. The views expressed in his/her articles are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.
